The 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a segregated Japanese American unit, is remembered today for its brave actions in World War II. Despite the odds, the 442nd’s actions distinguished them as the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in the history of the US military.
Soon after the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, effectively placing over 100,000 West Coast residents of Japanese descent, the majority of them American citizens, into incarceration camps. Racism against Japanese Americans was rampant as much of the country grew more fearful and suspicious of collaboration with the Japanese government. But Japanese Americans were equally outraged at the attack on their country. Despite the growing racism against them, many Japanese Americans answered the call to war.
President Roosevelt activated the 442nd Regimental Combat Team on February 1, 1943, nearly one year after the signing of EO9066. Hawaiian-born Nisei (second-generation Japanese Americans) made up roughly two-thirds of the regiment, with the remaining third composed of Nisei from the mainland United States. The motto of the unit was “Go For Broke,” a phrase that meant putting everything on the line in an effort to win big. Just as other minority groups, Japanese Americans faced two wars during World War II—war against the Axis powers and war against racism back home—making “Go For Broke” an appropriate motto.
Men from the 442nd practicing training maneuvers in Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Courtesy of the US National Archives.
The 442nd RCT consisted of multiple units, including the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, 232nd Combat Engineer Company, 206th Army Ground Forces Band, an Antitank Company, Cannon Company, Service Company, a medical detachment, and three infantry battalions. From May 1943 to April 1944, the men of the 442nd trained for combat, where they learned to fight as a team and excelled in practice maneuvers. Over the course of training, many men would be sent to Europe as replacements for the 100th Infantry Battalion, another Japanese American unit already fighting overseas and creating its own impressive track record.
A squad leader of the 442nd watching for German movement on the front lines in France. Courtesy of the US National Archives.
Members of the 442nd pose for a photo while riding a jeep in France. Courtesy US National Archives.
Training for the 442nd was completed in April, and on April 22, 1944, the unit left Camp Shelby in Mississippi on their journey to Europe for their first overseas assignment. They arrived in Italy in June 1944, where they began to fight alongside the 100th against Germans encamped across the country.
By August, the 100th was absorbed into the 442nd, with all units serving under the motto “Go For Broke.” In September 1944, the 442nd participated in the invasion of Southern France, successfully liberating French cities from Nazi occupation. The unit went on to fight with the 92nd Infantry Division, a segregated African American unit, in driving German forces out of northern Italy.
President Harry S. Truman removes his hat in front of the color guard of the 442nd.Courtesy Harry S. Truman Presidential Library
Today, the 442nd is remembered as the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in the history of the US military. The unit, totaling about 18,000 men, over 4,000 Purple Hearts, 4,000 Bronze Stars, 560 Silver Star Medals, 21 Medals of Honor, and seven Presidential Unit Citations. Additionally, the 100th garnished their own impressive record prior to their absorption into the 442nd. In 2010, various groups and advocates, including the National Veterans Network, were successful in obtaining congressional passage of the bill S. 1055, awarding all members of the 100th and 442nd, along with the Military Intelligence Service, the Congressional Gold Medal for their heroic service in World War II.
Against the odds, the men of the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team did “go for broke.” Despite the years of suspicion and racism that prevailed at home, these Nisei men fought for their country and their ideals of freedom and democracy. They fought heroically, leaving behind a record that is still untouched today.
The logo and motto “Remember Pearl Harbor” of the 100th Infantry Battalion. Courtesy of the US National Archives.
In early 1918, as the American Expeditionary Force prepared to face battle-hardened German troops in France, the bayonet was a vital component of the Doughboys’ combat equipment.
It is difficult for many people today to understand the importance the U.S. military placed on “cold steel” during the Great War. Beyond the material components of a long blade fixed to the end of a battle rifle, the American concept of bayonet fighting was as much spiritual as it was physical.
The World War I-era “Flaming Bayonet” was designed to project a burst of flame from five to 15 feet. Image: NARA
This feeling is described in the U.S. Bayonet Fighting Manual, prepared at The School of Arms at Fort Sill, Oklahoma during February 1918 under the heading “The Spirit of the Bayonet”:
It is an easy matter to teach the few simple technical details of bayonet combat, but an instructor’s success will be measured by his ability to instill into his men the will and desire to use the bayonet.
This spirit is infinitely more than the physical efforts displayed on our athletic fields; more than the enthusiasm of the prize-ring; more, even, than the grim determination of the firing line — it is an intense eagerness to fight and kill hand to hand, and is the overwhelming impulse behind every successful bayonet assault.
A United States ordnance drawing of the 6-shot cartridge-type projector. Author’s collection
Bayonet fighting is possible only because every red-blooded man naturally possesses the fighting instinct. This inherent desire to fight and kill must be carefully watched for and encouraged by the instructor. It first appears in a recruit when he begins to handle his bayonet with facility and increases as his confidence grows. With the mastering of his weapon there comes to him a sense of personal fighting superiority and a desire for physical conflict. He knows that he can fight and win. His practice becomes snappy and full of strength. He longs to test his ability against an enemy’s body; to prove that his bayonet is irresistible. He pictures an enemy at every practice thrust and drives home his bayonet with strength, precision and satisfaction. Such a man will fight as he has trained consistently, spiritedly, and effectively. While waiting for zero hour he will not fidget nervously. He will go over the top and win.
With the fighting spirit of the bayonet in mind, U.S. Ordnance sought to give the Doughboys’ bayonet charges a unique advantage. Consequently, they produced a small flame projector to attach to the muzzle of the rifle — creating a flaming bayonet.
The M1917 rifle shown here is equipped with the “Flaming bayonet, cartridge type, Mark I.” The weight of the tiny flamethrower attachment was recorded as 5/8ths of a pound. Image: NARA
The unique device was described in a post-WWI U.S. Army Ordnance review of trench warfare materials:
“Flaming bayonet, liquid type, Mark I — the total weight charged was 7/8 pound. To be used as an accessory to the military rifle, by the projection of a spurt of flame 5 to 15 feet in length.”
At first, the flaming bayonet appears to give each infantryman his own single-use flamethrower. A little deeper examination shows that the device is not intended to replace the concept of a man-portable flame projector, but rather to enhance the individual Doughboy’s chances in bayonet fighting. The sudden burst of flame would act as a serious distraction to the enemy, causing him to turn his face away and leave his body open to the Doughboy’s bayonet attack.
This correlates with the stateside teaching, as described in the U.S. Bayonet Fighting Manual:
“The maximum killing range of the bayonet is about 5 feet (measured from the opponent’s eyes to your own), but more often the killing is at closer quarters, at 2 feet or less, when troops are struggling corps-a-corps in the trenches or darkness.
The cartridge type projector replaced the initial liquid type. It is shown here firing during a training demonstration. Image: NARA
To sum up, the bayonet is only an offensive weapon, and its users must move over short distances straight up to the enemy’s position and without halting to fire. All the other details of an assault are to give the bayonet man an opportunity to close with the enemy, and the success of an attack depends upon, first, whether sufficient men can reach the enemy, and second, having closed with him, whether they are imbued with the spirit of the bayonet.”
A sudden burst of flame within five feet would certainly cause enough “shock and awe” to give the attacking Doughboy a much better chance to strike a killing blow. In “Hand to Hand Fighting: The Use of the Bayonet” (1918), author Haskell C. Billings notes that the attacker has but one chance to make a significant first impression with the bayonet:
“Don’t get excited and lose your head when you meet your man. Every thrust must count. Remember that in shooting you have five chances, with five cartridges in the chamber, but only one chance with the bayonet.”
The flaming bayonet attachment was essentially inconspicuous, and any man with a rifle and a bayonet could use one. Ordnance documentation describes the effect as “The weapon is intended for use at close range to temporarily disconcert the enemy immediately before the bayonet attack.”
Flaming Bayonet Mechanics
The first pattern of the device was basically a tiny flamethrower using liquid fuel. While innovative, the flammable fuel cannister suffered from unreliable ignition and inconsistent burning and projection when it worked.
Photographed here is the initially developed vial-type liquid flame projector. Image: NARA
Even so, the basic concept was considered sound, and the design evolved to use a six-shot pyrotechnic cannister, which was considered far superior. No information exists to whether each chemical “flame shot” could be triggered separately, or if they all ignited at once. It is also unknown if the cannister projector could be reloaded — by the soldier, by Chemical Warfare troops, or if it was a single use weapon. Issues regarding temperature variation, moisture, mud, and rough handling would have been significant challenges for the troops in the field.
As far as is known, the flaming bayonet was never issued for combat trials. The final prototype was said to produce a solid sheet of flame up to 10 feet in length, with white hot particles projecting out up to 30 feet.
There is little photographic documentation of the device, and I’ve included all the images I’ve ever found for your review here. The flaming bayonet is a relatively simple device, but it was far from “soldier-proof”.
In Practice
Ultimately, it was an interesting concept, but with a very limited tactical application. When viewed in the context of the importance of bayonet fighting at that time, the flaming bayonet makes sense. But in the field, it quickly becomes cumbersome, and possibly more of a distraction to the user than it would have been to the enemy.
The improved, cartridge-type flame projector mounted on an M1917 rifle. Image: NARA
Any photos of the flaming bayonet show it attached to the .30-caliber M1917 rifle, the “American Enfield” — America’s most used combat rifle in World War I, with nearly 75% of all U.S. troops equipped with it.
The associated U.S. M1917 bayonet, with its 17” blade, was based on the British Pattern 1913 sword bayonet. Attached to the 46.3” M1917 rifle, the visual effect is that of a long and intimidating weapon. It seems that the flaming bayonet could have been adapted for use on the M1903 Springfield rifle, but this was never produced.
It is important to note that the flaming bayonet fell under the auspices of the Chemical Warfare Service, and flamethrower/flame projectors were never a priority for this branch of the U.S. military until 1942. After World War I, leaders of the Chemical Warfare Service generally considered flamethrowers to be a failed weapon system, and the flaming bayonet concept was abandoned by mid-1919.
Ultimately, while the flaming bayonet concept was abandoned, bayonet fighting remained an important part of U.S. military doctrine. Image: NARA
Time marched on, and the American fighting man carried his rifle in conflicts around the world, trained as a marksman while still imbued with the spirit of the bayonet. Though truly fascinating, the flaming bayonet is ultimately an interesting footnote in this long and storied history.
The 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a segregated Japanese American unit, is remembered today for its brave actions in World War II. Despite the odds, the 442nd’s actions distinguished them as the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in the history of the US military.
